The Secrets of Pulled Pork
Pulled pork is an American pork dish. The pork in the dish is cooked so that it can be pulled apart in strands. These strands of meat are soft and succulent and can be mixed with a sauce or spices, which it soaks up. It makes a very flavourful topping for a sandwich, wrap, and serves as a whole dinner.
Pulling pork sounds like an extremely strenuous business, but it’s not, it’s simply down to a gentle, slow cooking process that makes it ideal for the meat smoker, although many a good pulled pork has been rustled up in a slow cooker or a traditional oven.
Pulled pork is so-called because of the way that it is served up. As it says, it’s literally been pulled apart. Nowadays, it can be served chopped or shredded (although traditionalists would probably shun this) but one thing remains true and that is the final presentation is in a bun with barbecue sauce and a coleslaw side.
Not every part of a pig can be transformed into pulled pork. The meat structure has to be such that it can ultimately fall apart in those thin strands and still be soft and juicy instead of dry and dense.
Pork shoulder is the most commonly used joint because the long cooking could dry out some cuts, but the shoulder is quite a fatty joint, providing a natural baste. During the long cookout, most of the fat will dissolve. Most importantly, it’s this long cooking process that breaks down the tough fibrous connective tissue called collagen that tenderizes the meat, making it easy to "pull" apart.
So next time you will cook a Pulled Pork, be sure that you ask Happy Pork Butchery for a pork shoulder! Place your order at 0672704783.
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